Pro-Lite Vicenza 90mm advise
Hi, just seeing if any previous information on these wheels, Pro-Lite Vicenza 90mm…
has anyone any experiance with them. I have done a bit of web-surfing to find quality reveiws, but found bugger all.
any advise or reviews would be appreciated, they just look good for the price. 
does anyone use these wheels
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After reading their website articles on their hubs, it sounds like they value the strength and durability of their hubs before speed and weight or ceramic. So even though you are not getting Zipp, HED, or Easton ceramic hubs, they are still stout and built for any rider weight levels. They had some pro circuit wins on their hubs and they have been around for longer than most think. It seems Pro-Lite is popular in Europe… in America everyone wants Zipp or HED… but I was thinking about a pair of these myself. The cost savings alone are incredible… race on them once and then install nicer hubs if you feel the “risk” there is high or if you want ceramic… either way they are light, fast, aero, and stout wheels. Pro-lite also makes great carbon components like their tri bars are freaking NICE!!!
I have raced with my Pro Lite Vicenza 90’s for two years now and I absolutely love them. They are a little heavy, but have proven fast and durable. And the price couldnt be beat. I ride them with TUFO tubulars and have yet to have a single issue with the wheels. I was blown away by how much faster I was the first time I rode with deep wheels. The only thing that sucks is that the bolzano hub system has ruled out moving my powertap to these wheels.
Well i just picked up a pair of 50/90 and will have them early next week. I will definitly write up a review on them and take some quality pictures. They seem like great wheels that are not as good as the best out there, but good enough from what I am currently racing on (my training wheels)… gotta a chance to race on a 1080/808 combo last weekend and it blew my mind how much better it is. I know these Pro-Lites are not going to be the same calibur as Zipps but they will gain me seconds and Ill be able to acclerate and maintain top end speed a LOT better!
whyd you think the zipps were so much better? bling factor, more comfortable, more stable, felt faster?
Well I have not raced or ridden with the pro-lites yet. they are still shipping, I jusr ordered them yesterday. I think i enjoyed the zipps because they were spot on smooth, aero, and stiff. The hubs were amazing and it was very easy to get up to speed, climb, and maintain top end speed (which becomes faster). I will let you know some key differences between the pro-lites and zipps… but what I can tell you is that you cannot beat the price of what I got (under 900)…
50 front
90 rear
conti competition tubbies
glue
valve ext
brake pads specific to pro-lite
titanium skewers
and a bag
From what I have researched the Pro-lite hibs are built more roubust and durable, but still quick and fast! The wheels wont wiegh in less than zipps, but all I need is aero, and speed, I am not concerned with the flash.
I noticed that on the Pro Lite website the new Vicenza wheels are not using the “Bolzano” hub anymore. My wheels have this hub system. You will have to let me know what you think of the hubs on your wheels. The other thing I noticed is that the website says they pump up their tires to 160 psi “minimum”. This sounds crazy to me as my wheels even state that the recommended max psi is 130. I have never tried to go above 130, but would give it a shot if the wheels can take it. I also used the Pro Lite brake pads at first, but got tired of ordering them from Pro lite (which was a tough company to get ahold of sometimes) and have switched to Reynolds carbon brake pads. These have worked fine and are available at my LBS.
So I have ridden my Pro-Lite Wheels twice now gearing up for Steelhead 70.3 this weekend. I have the Vicenza 90 in the rear and the Gavia 50 front. They are both tubulars. Here are my thoughts on them so far… we will see how they race…
Note: I have ridden one race with 808/1080 combo and they were amazing. I do all of my training on my 42mm AL wheels that are somewhat heavy (especially the rear with a 105 cassette)
First ride I liked them. They were easy to spin up when accelerating and the 50/90 (ultegra cassette) combo sliced through the headwind I was in. These wheels are light, stiff, comfy, and robust. They are not as smooth as the zipps and the profile on the zipps were much more so the whoosh whoosh effect is not as great. The zipp hubs are by far A+ hubs and these Pro-Lite hubs are B+ hubs. The rear hub can actually be taken apart and re assembled to use for a fixed/track hub… but I will never do that. The hubs look kinda weird but they work rock solid. I do not clamp my hubs very tight either because if you do it too tight you run the risk of over clamping and putting too much pressure on the hubs causing the bearing to loose longevity. Anyhow, the wheels are great and I love the 50/90 combo.
They do take some getting used to with the wind though because of they are lighter and catch more air than what I am used to. With the ultegra hub… the 90 rear is still a lot lighter than my training wheel and if I can feel that significant difference then I know it is at least a 1lb.
I will race them this Saturday at Steelhead and I think that the combo is good for this course… although the 1080/808 combo would be the best for steelhead… or even a disc but i dont have those so itll be the 50/90 for me.
I will post my thoughts on them after the race… ooo and they came with conti comp tires so that is whats on there… the zipps had the sweet zipp race tires.